Europe blasts Russian finance minister’s attendance at Asheville G20

European financial officials pushed back on the U.S. decision to invite Russia’s finance minister to the G20 finance meeting in Asheville, N.C., this week.

The European officials expressed concern that the Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov’s presence at the summit of the world’s 20 largest economies risked normalizing ties with Moscow amid its full-scale war against Ukraine.

July marked the deadliest month for Ukrainian civilians amid increased Russian ballistic missile and drone attacks, as well as Ukraine’s shortage of air defense munitions. Fighting over the winter is also expected to intensify suffering in Ukraine.

Russia’s Finance Ministry said that Siluanov met with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the two discussed the Russian-American financial relationship and issues of cooperation within the G20.

A source familiar told The Hill that Bessent “made clear” to Siluanov that the U.S. “will not provide Russia with economic relief until the war in Ukraine is over.”

“When he tried to discuss areas of interest to take action on, Secretary Bessent forcefully interrupted and said nothing is possible until the war is over,” the source said.

The meeting comes as Congress is debating a new sanctions bill targeting Russia. The legislation would give the president power to tariff the top five countries purchasing Russian oil, among other measures.

However, President Trump has downplayed and threatened U.S. support for Ukraine since returning to the White House in an attempt to mediate with Moscow. When Russia stalled talks to end the war, Trump imposed sanctions on major Russian oil companies, Lukoil and Rosneft, in October 2025.

But German Finance ⁠Minister Lars Klingbeil told reporters at the summit he worried about the message the U.S. was sending to Russia by inviting its officials to the G20 meeting, and that Europe was readying another package of sanctions against Moscow.

“A joint approach would ​be best, yet it is sometimes unclear whether there might be a loosening of the stance over there. That is why I find the signal sent by receiving the Russian finance minister ​here quite troubling,” Klingbeil said, Reuters reported .

“I would have wanted greater clarity from ​the American side that he should not be received here as a normal guest.”

European ministers and central bankers also opposed appearing in the normal “family photo” of participants, Reuters reported, and that in the end a decision was made to take the photograph without the Russian minister.

The U.S, as host of the G20, makes up the guest list and excluded South Africa , last year’s G20 host. The Trump administration has accused Pretoria of persecuting White South Africans, charges the government denies , and created a special refugee program giving them priority access to resettle in the U.S.

Spain was also absent from the G20 meeting. President Trump has lashed out against Madrid for refusing to pledge to increase its defense spending to five percent of its GDP and pushed back against Spain’s criticism of the U.S. and Israeli war in Iran.